On the version of Hot off the Wire posted May 17 at 6:45 a.m. CT:

HOUSTON (AP) — Severe thunderstorms have hit southeastern Texas for the second time this month, and Houston's mayor says at least four people are dead. There also have been windows blown out of high-rise buildings, downed trees and power outages for more than 900,000 customers in the Houston area. The storms also moved into neighboring Louisiana and left more than 215,000 customers there without power. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip have rolled across a newly built U.S. pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time. Friday's shipment is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day. 

NEW YORK (A0) — Donald Trump's hush money trial is off through the weekend so the former president can attend the high school graduation of his youngest son, Barron. Michael Cohen — prosecutors' final witness, at least for now — is expected to return to the witness stand Monday. 

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard estimates that up to 2,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into surrounding waters when a barge carrying fuel broke free from a tugboat and slammed into a bridge near Galveston, Texas.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration says it will cost more than $20 billion to build a giant tunnel to capture and store more water. Newsom inherited the project and changed it to be one big tunnel instead of two smaller ones.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has announced multiple arrests in a series of complex stolen identity theft cases that officials say are part of a wide-ranging scheme that generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program.

In other news:

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.